Conveyor systems used in manufacturing packaging goods often include guides that define lanes into which articles on a conveyor are directed. The articles may be, for instance, packaged goods or containers, e.g., bottles or other containers into which a product has been placed, or is to be placed. Depending on the circumstances, the guides forming the lanes may be used at one or more different points in the packaging process. As is well known in the art, the guides are positioned precisely relative to the conveyor, in order that the lanes are the precise optimum width for the containers. Because the conveyors typically move the containers at relatively high speed, an inaccurately positioned guide may cause the conveyors to jam, resulting in lost production.
For example, where filled bottles are to be positioned in two groups of three on each side of a carton, lanes may be configured to position filled and capped bottles into two separate lines in which the bottles are arranged in single file respectively, so that the bottles may conveniently be packaged in the cartons. In this example, once the filled bottles are in two parallel single files, they can relatively easily be positioned in the respective cartons by a packaging machine.
As is well known in the art, the positions of the guides defining the lanes typically are required to be changed from time to time, when the shapes and/or sizes of the containers are changed. Also, other parameters (e.g., the cartons or other packaging in which the filled containers are positioned) may also change from time to time, and the lane guides may need to be repositioned accordingly.
However, in the prior art, the mechanisms and methods for adjusting the positions of the guides are generally labor-intensive, and also typically are somewhat inaccurate. The lack of accuracy in positioning the guides can, and sometimes does, result in the containers that are conveyed becoming jammed, requiring that the conveyor be stopped to clear away the jammed materials.